This invention relates generally to the field of speed reducers used to slow movement, and, more particularly, to a speed reducer for a retractable doors and windows or any other retractable device used to control light and movement of people and/or insects.
Retractable screen systems have become very popular in recent years. Such systems provide a screen which is typically extended and latched to cover an opening such as a door or a window. These systems employ a tracks to guide the screen and provide a seal against the elements. The screens are made of a flexible material mounted on a ridged frame adapted to engage the tracks but which allow the screen to be wound up on a spool when not in use. This provides more compact storage than either previously available sliding screens or hinged screen doors of the even earlier prior art.
However, the present day systems employ spools which are spring loaded and biased to the closed position. Thus, once the screen is unlatched, it will rewind to the spool automatically. Unfortunately, such spring loaded systems rewind very quickly and sometimes painfully catch fingers or other extremities. Thus, there is a need for a mechanism to reduce the retraction speed of such systems to avoid such difficulties.
The present invention meets this need.
It is an object of this invention to provide a speed reducer for a retractable doors and windows or any other retractable device used to control light and movement of people and/or insects.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.